How Do Lyres Work?

These stringed instruments had their heyday thousands of years ago and are still played today. Learn about the history and mythology behind the lyre in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/lyre.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam here. It's not an
instrument you're likely to see make an appearance during a
modern musical performance, but the liar played a major role
in ancient Greek culture, and even before it began popping
up at private drinking party performances and religious ceremonies. An

(00:24):
earlier version of the stringed instrument likely originated in the
ancient Middle East. For the article this episode is based
on How Stuff Work. Spoke by email with Richard P. Martin,
a professor in classics at Stanford University. He said, depending
on how you define it, the liar or another simple
handheld stringed instrument like it, seems to be popular from

(00:47):
the Mediterranean through to India and in many parts of Africa.
Musicologists debate whether one very ancient prototype spread with different
cultures borrowing from others, or whether these were independent creations. Traditionally,
the liar had two fixed upright arms or horns, and
a crossbar, and its tuning pegs were made of bronze, bone, ivory,

(01:11):
or wood. The instrument's seven strings measured the same length
but varied in thickness and were stretched between the crossbar
and a fixed tail piece. How Stuff Works also spoke
with professional musician Dave Mostart. He explained that the earliest
liars were likely made from the forearm bones of sheep, goats,

(01:31):
or donkeys, and images of the instruments were depicted on
Sumerian carvings dating from approximately two thousand BC quote. There
are many representations of liars on classical Greek vase paintings,
and according to the accounts of various historians, the body
shape of liar instruments varied greatly over the years. The

(01:51):
versions of the liar that existed in Mesopotamia and the
Near East around two thousand BC or earlier included bigger
box liars. There were some times so large that they
had to be set on the ground like a modern heart.
Martin explained that the liar that many of us are
familiar with today is the bowl liar, typically associated with
Greek culture, which was invented after a thousand BC quote.

(02:15):
It was small and light and had from three to
eleven strings that you would play by plucking. The bowl
liar was associated with private entertainment at drinking parties. Apparently,
the sound was not too loud, and you'd hear it
better in a room. At the same time that the
liar was becoming a favorite among Greek partiers, another instrument
was also picking up popularity. Martin said. Ancient Greeks also

(02:39):
had what they called kithera, a much larger box style
liar that you played with a pick and which had
a resonating soundbox. This was used in musical compositions, either
for instrumental pieces or to accompany singers. It was also
played during rituals, where it would accompany more formal public
songs like a hymn of praise and celebration of vic

(03:00):
Jory houstuf Works also spoke via email with Jed Macosco,
professor of physics at Wake Forest University and academic director
of Academic Influence dot com. He said that there's solid
science to explain the unique sound of the liar quote.
In the ancient world of liar players, no one had
an electronic tuner or even a tuning fork, So how

(03:22):
did they keep their liars sounding good? They had to
use math. Pythagoreus, the guy with the A squared plus
B squared equal C squared theorem, and his students were
among the first to associate the lengths of equally tight,
equally heavy strings with their tones, and more importantly, recognize
the ratios of the lengths of those strings was super important.

(03:44):
In the end, he was able to explain why the
four strings and the liars that people played in his
time sounded good together, and he was able to help
people keep them in tune. But when it comes to
the actual acoustics of the liar, people have described the
gentle sound in a variety of ways. Martin said, they
sound like Hawaiian slack key guitars, only tinier must get

(04:08):
confirmed the liar's delicate sound, attributing the acoustic effect to
the instrument's construction. Quote. The strings on a liar are
generally stretched over a frame because of the force they exert.
The sound of a liar is light and airy and
not powerful enough for orchestral performance. Martin, an expert in

(04:28):
Greek mythology, says the liar played an important role in
many famous tales of the gods. He said, the most
famous story is how Hermes, when only a one day
old baby, enticed a tortoise into his home, killed it,
gutted it, and made a liar out of it, stretching
skin on top of the hollow shell and then tightening
seven sheep gut cords over the skin. Hermes then went

(04:52):
and secretly stole the cattle of his brother Apollo. When
the older god tracked him down, the baby god enchanted
Apollo by playing on his newly invented instrument. Apollo was
so taken with the music it produced that he made
a deal with Hermes. He would take the liar and
give Hermes a golden wand and also power over some
forms of divination. The instrument also made an appearance in

(05:15):
another famous myth regarding Hercules, who killed his first music
teacher in anger using the liar as a bludgeon. A
constellation is even named after the instrument. Martin said. Orpheus,
the famous singer who could move rocks and trees and
animals with his music, played a liar, and when Orpheus
was killed, the gods placed his liar in the sky.

(05:36):
It became the constellation Lyra. Another Greek god, also has
ties to the liar. Martin explained, we get the word
lyric as in lyric poetry, from the instrument that was
used to accompany ancient songs and recitations Apollo, who was
shown playing the big concert style kithera more often does

(05:57):
play the liar as well, as represented on ancient Greek
vase paintings. It is interesting that Apollo is also the
god of archery, famous for his unerring arrows and bows,
because in some cultures, for example, in parts of South Africa,
people even today actually convert their hunting bows into musical instruments.
They're multifunctional. Martin says. The liar is still alive and

(06:21):
well in some parts of the world. Quote in the
island of Crete there are famous liar makers and liar players.
If you go there in the summer especially, you'll see
big posters every weekend advertising who's playing at what club
or other venue. Players sing along to it, or there
can be others in a group who recite short Cretan
poems while the music plays. The Cretan lyra is played

(06:43):
with a bow not usually plucked, and seems to be
the descendant of a medieval Byzantine instrument. There's a fantastic
Musical Instrument museum in Athens that has on display folk
instruments like it from other parts of Greece. M Today's
episode is based on the article A light and airy

(07:05):
Liar has plucked its way through the ages on how
stuff works dot Com, written by Michelle Konstantinovski. Brain Stuff
is production of I Heart Radio in partnership with how
stuff works dot Com and is produced by Tyler Clang.
Four more podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit the i
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